RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNET USE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study investigated relationship between internet use and academic achievement among secondary school students in Anambra state. Three research questions guided the study. Correlational research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted of 20214 SS1 students from 261 public secondary schools in Anambra state. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 392 students. An instrument developed by the researcher titled ‘Internet Use for data collection was applied for date collection. The instrument was subjected to face validation. The reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha. The result gave a coefficient value of 0.82. Cumulative scores of the students in computer studies was used to measure Academic Achievement of the Students. The data were collected by the researcher with the help of four research assistants who were properly briefed on how to administer and retrieve copies of the instrument. The data were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation. The findings of the study revealed a negligible positive relationship between internet use and academic achievement of the students. The study also found low positive relationship between internet use and academic achievement of male students in secondary schools. Finally, the study revealed that there is a positive relationship between internet use and academic achievement of female students. Based on the above findings, the researcher recommended among others that there is need for provision of cybercafé by the government to help the students improve their efficiency in the use of internet. This study will help the students to imbibe the quality knowledge and awareness of the usage of the internet.